Stockton seed store has blossomed

Since early in the past century, clerks behind the counter at a small store off Wilson Way in Stockton have gone to a wall of small wooden drawers to fetch 1 ounce, 1 pound or 5 pounds or more of vegetable seeds to fill customer orders.

Name: Lockhart Seeds Inc., 3 N. Wilson Way, StocktonHistory: Business originated in the 1920s as Silva-Sackett Seed Co. Acquired by Reed Lockhart in the late 1930s, who sold it to...

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At a glance

Name: Lockhart Seeds Inc., 3 N. Wilson Way, Stockton

History: Business originated in the 1920s as Silva-Sackett Seed Co. Acquired by Reed Lockhart in the late 1930s, who sold it to his brother Ian Lockhart Sr. in 1948. His son, Ian Lockhart Jr., owns and operates the company today.

Employees: 15 full time

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Since early in the past century, clerks behind the counter at a small store off Wilson Way in Stockton have gone to a wall of small wooden drawers to fetch 1 ounce, 1 pound or 5 pounds or more of vegetable seeds to fill customer orders.

It's old-fashioned, but it still works. And with no remaining competition in Northern California, Lockhart Seeds Inc. today draws clients from a larger territory than ever.

Retail manager Steve Auten said customers come from Fresno, Chico, the Bay Area, the Mother Lode and beyond to his store.

"We're the hub of the universe here," he said. "There's no place else in California where you can get the inventory and purchase in quantity like this. Plus, you get to come to Stockton, too.

"We're probably the last store of our kind in California, because we don't just cater to the commercial farmers and we don't just cater to the home gardener," Auten explained.

Lockhart is a major supplier of vegetable seed to large commercial growers, those who might buy seeds by the pallet, rather than by the paper packet.

"We'll bring in seed for the commercial guys, but we will offer most of those in small quantities to our retail customers, whether they are farmers market people, fruit stand people or home gardeners," Auten said.

Lockhart workers will break out large sacks or pails of seeds and repackage them in smaller, 1-ounce, quarter-pound, 1-pound and 5-pound packets that are stashed in the wooden drawers.

There are also commercially packed paper seed packets, mostly the more unusual or specialty varieties of vegetables.

Auten said Lockhart used to pack all its own seed packets as well, but due to the labor involved now relies on other companies for its smallest packages, except for a few varieties popular with area gardeners but unavailable from other sources.

Lockhart also offers lawn seed and pasture seed, along with a small selection of herbs and flowers, and just about any other supply needed for small-scale farming or home gardening.

"So we have some growing trays, potting soils, insecticides, hand tools, water hoses, soil mixes - most anything you need to get a garden going," Auten explained.

Lockhart's commercial sales to farmers amount to about 70 percent of revenues, Auten said. It maintains a sales staff, including representatives in New Mexico and Mexico, to serve that trade. But the retail store helps support that business as well.

"We're also the support team for the commercial side for packaging and delivering and things like that, so we sort of work hand in hand," Auten said.